Airship.



' J. E. SHERIPP.

AIRSHIP. v APPLIUATION HLBD JUNE 2, '1911.

Patented May 7, 191.2.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. E. SHERIPF.'

AIRSHIP.

APPLIQATION FILED JUNE 2, 1911.

Patented May 7, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2A Wz'fnwses: v Inventor.-

@pm/y MM UNITED SCLATES- PATENT' @FFIC'E' JAMES E. snnmrr, orjrnovo, UTAH.

` Masini,

s pecication of Letters Patent.

Patented May 7, 1912.

To all whom z't may concern.;

Be it known that I, JAMES E. SHERIFF, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Olmsted, Provo` in the county of Utah and State of Utah, have invented anew and useful Ail-ship, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an air ship of the heavier than air type, with the object in view of producing an air ship thatwill soar,to wit: be sustained by the force or reaction of a moving wind or other surrounding medium, and also be propel1ed.forward against the moving surrounding medium by. the said surrounding medium, and to this end,l to provide a lstructure which will extract power from some portion of the moving surrounding medium that does not bear clirectly upon or touch or push backward on the ship.

My invention contemplates-forming the .sails so that eddies will be produced both above and below the sails, and keeping these eddies in motion by the moving surrounding medium, and providing a larger amount of surface` for the eddies to react upon kthan is provided for the current to act upon, since the forwardly moving portions of the eddles may have a lower velocity than'the current in which the ship is moving.

A practical embodimentof the invention .is represented in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figurel 1 is a ytop plan View partlally broken away. Fig. 2 is 'a View in side ele-` vation. Fig. 3 is a section in the plane of the line A-'A, 2, the engine being removed. Fig. 4 is a partially enlarged top plan view of one of the sails. Fig. 5 isa section through the same in the plane of the line BB, Fig. 4. Fig is an enlarged view of the steering wheel and its connections, showing th`e same in front elevation. Fig. 7 is a view of the same in side elevation, partly in section. Fig. 8 is an enlarged par tially longitudinal section through the wall of the body and one of the ribs, and Figs. 9 and 10 are enlarged views in detail in plan and rear elevation of the rudder bearings at the stern of they ship.

The sails which spread out from the body in the form of wings, are provided with static propellers and sustentationA surfaces and are so shaped that an eddy will be formed above each sail, said leddy having al lower barometer pressure than the surrounding medium and an eddy will be formed on the under side of each sail well forward, having a higherbarometric pressure-thanthe eddy on the upper side.

4The body 1 which has the general outline of a cigar as looked at in plan and a hyperbolic curve only at its prow, is built of suitable strong material as light. as consistent with strength, and is provided with a cockpit 2 located in' the neighborhood of thegreatest beam, which lisl well forward', as clearly shown in Fig. 1, Vthe sides ofthe cockpit being formed l of some suitable transparent material, preferably non-explosive celluloid, denoted by 3. To the rear .of the cockpit, the body assumes a form substantially cylindrical in cross section and gradually tapers as it extends rearwardly, the exterior of the body'being provided with. a series of annular static propellers 4, shown clearly in Fig. 8. At the extreme rear end of the body,- horizontal and vertical rudders, the former denoted by 5 and the latter by 6, are so hinged as to be under the control of the operator from the cockpit 2, as will be hereinafter more particularly explained.

ln the cockpit 2, the steering wheel 7 is the upper ends of the branches 13 and 14 of a U-shaped support by means of suitable trunnions or pintles 15, 16. The U-shaped support in which the sleeve 9 is hung is itself journaled'in bearings 17, 18, fixed tothe floor of the-cockpit so as to permit the steering Wheel sleeve 9 in which it is mount'- ed, and the U-shaped support in which the sleeve is journaled, to rock bodily to the right and left as may be desired. The

cockpit hasy also located -therein a seat 19 for the 4operator within convenient reach Vof the steering wheel and' in front of the steering wheel there is located the engine 20, the shaft of which is connected a sprocket chain V21 with the propeller shaft 22 on which is ixed the propeller 23.

The sails are similar in construction and a description of one will sulice for both.

The upper portion of the entering edge of Y' the sail, denoted by. 24, see Fig. 5, is preferably -a parabolic curve with the vertex at 25 andthe other end ofthe parabolic curve at `able thin material and is supported by four eel 26. From this oint the surface of the sail is deflected gra ually downward and rearward to the point 27 where the flexible edge 28 of the sa1l is attached. Along this top surface there are located two groups of static ropellers, one denoted lby 29 andthe other y 30.

The lower portion of' the entering edge of the sail is straight or inclined slightly upward, as shown at 31, and imme iately to the rear of this horizontal under surface of the sail, there are located static pro ellers, in the present instance, a group o' three, denoted b 32.

The bo y of the sail consists of some suitspars denoted respectively by 33', 34 35 and 36, extending from the body of the ship outwardly and connected by sprits, in the'pres-` ent instance, four 'spr1ts, denoted respectivel by 37 38, 39 and 40, extending from the firent edge of the sail toward the rear edge 'of the same. At the outer end ofthe sail there is a trailing rudder 41 secured on a rocking shaft 42 which is operated by means of a'vertical lever 43 extending above and below the sail and connected by suitable operating cables "with the steering wheel mechanism;

Semi-automatic ,transverse stability is secured by the arrangement of the cable guys 44, 45, 46 .and 47. The guy 47 is secured at 48 and leads thence forward,

L passing around the gu pulley 49 and thence around the movab e pulley 50, and is secured again at 51. -The guy 46 is attached 'at the under side of the outer end of the i sail at 52 and extends then'ce to the shackle 53- on thepulley 50 to which it is secured. The-guys 44 and 45 are secured to the guy 47 at 54. y

, 1n case of a current bearing harder under the portsail than under the starboard sail, the guys 44, 45,v having the advantage of leverage over the guy 46, will cause the trailing edge of the portsail to rise and the outer portion of the entering ed e will be l cables arev attached. The sail operating lowered, thus decreasing the ang e of incidence. Y Y

The body structure is made strong by means of suitable transverse ribs 55," see Fig. 8.

A cable guy 56 leads 'from the forward portion of the 'body to the top of a'hinged post 57 to the top of which the sail operating cables 58, 59, lead in opposite directions from the hinged post 57 to the lower ends of the upright levers 43, and cables 60, 61 lead from the upper ends of the upright levers 43 to the branches 14 and 13 respectively of 'the U-shapedportion of the steering mechanism. 1t follows, therefore, that when it is desired to lift the port rudder 41,

the steering wheel and the mechanism vin thereby Vdraw on the cable 59 an which it is mounted may be swun bodily to starboard, thereby drawing on t e cable 60, tilting the lever 43 in a direction to rock the shaft 42 and lift' the rudder 41, the cable 46 being' at the same time drawn in a direction to tilt the hinged post 57 to ort and tilt the upright lever of the starboard sail in a dire'ction to lower the rudder on that sail. It will be noted that the cables 58 and 60 cross and that the cables 59 and 61 cross in order to accomplish this end.

Cables 62, 63, sexe Fig. 6, lead from the opposite ends .of the cross bar 10 on the steering wheel of the shi downwardly to sheaves 64, 65, beneath t e seat of the operator and thence crossing each other, lead rearwardly to the opposite ends of.a crossarm 66 on the lower end of a rudder post 67 whlch passes throu h or into the upper and lower sections of t e vertical rudder 6 and rocks in a bearing 68, see detail Figs. 9 and 10, which bearin 68 in turn rocks in suitable bearlngs 69, 0, fixed at the stern of the ship. The horizontal rudder 5 is fixed to rock, together with the bea-ring 68 and the vertical rudder, in the bearings 69 and 70,

the bearin 68 being rovided with, suitable trunnions 1, 72, fort at purpose.

Cables 73, 74, lead from the opposite ends of the cross-arm 11 on the steerin Wheel shaft, see Fig.' 6, to sheaves 75, 76, neath the seat of the operator and thence crossing cach other lead to the op osite ends Aof the cross-arm 77 o n the rud er ost 67 above -the bearing 68 and above t e horizontal rudder 5. To deiect the bow of the shi downwardly, the steering wheel is rocked forward 1n the U-shaped frame, thereby pulling on the'cables 62 63, and hence on the lower endv of the rudder post 67, causing the horizontal rudder 5 to lrock together with the vertical rudder, `on the trunnions 71, 72, thereby de ressing the rear portion of t-he rudder 5 an lifting the forward portion of it.

` To deflect the prov;r of the ship upwardly, the reverse motion lof the steerin wheel takes place, that is pulling it to t e rearward, which motion will pull on the rudder .post above the horizontal rudder 5, rockin cables 62, 73, and slacking on the cables 63,'

74, which operation will swing the vertical rudder to port.

In operation, the current of the surrounding medium striking' the upper port-ion of eddy passing rapidly forward, is resisted by the static propellers 29, 30, (static with relation to the ship) and its course changed and power obtained. rlfhe lower side of the entering edge of the sail, which, as stated, is preferably horizontal or slightly higher at its after end t-han at its forward end, permits the current in which the ship is moving to pass unobstructed and forms an eddy to the rear of the horizontal edge 31 on the under side of the sail. rlhe eddy so formed in passing forward, strikes the lstatic propellers 32, see Fig. 5, and is; de-

ected backward and power is obtained from it if the ship is moving forward and sustaining force is derived from it if the ship is standing still in the current. The

current on the under side, furthermore, acting on the static propellers 32,` forms a Siphon increasing-the velocity of the eddy to t-he rear of these static propellers and also has a similar effect as it passes along under the sail to the rear of said static propellers 32. The current will rise somewhat, after passing the static propellers 32, owing to the space to the rear of the static propellers being at a slightly lower barometricf' pressure than the current itself, the curi rent being at a higher barometrlc pressure 'than the surrounding medium due to-the angle of incidence of the sail. The current will strike the under surface of the sail about midway of the width of the sail and passing rearwardly from this point will Siphon duid through the static propellers 29, thus increasing the degree of vacuum on the upper Qide of the sail. The flexible trailing edge 28 of the sail also acts as' a static propeller, the current owing upwardly and deflecting it as shown in dotted lines in ltiig. 5. 'lhe static propellers 4 formed on the exterior of the hull back of the beani also serve to utilize the eddies after the beam to assist in pushing the ship forward. rlhe outside surface of the hull forward of the beam is preferably polished or made smooth to reduce its friction.

What lt claim is:

l. An air ship provided with a sail, the front or entering edge of the sail bein directed forward and downward, the trailing edge of the sail being free to assume an upward and backward position and static propellers forming a portion of the body of thesail and open to the atmosphere above and below the sail. l

2. An air ship provided with a sail, the front or entering edge of the sail being directed forward and downward, the trailing edge of the sail being free `to Vassuuie an upward and backward position and static propellers located between the said forward and downward and upwardv and backward portlons of the sail and open tothe atmosphere above and below the sail.

3. An air ship provided with-a sail, the forward'portion of the sail constructed to dlp, the after portion of the sail constructed to rlse and static propellers passing through the sail, leaving spaces between themy open to the atmosphere above and below the sail.

4. An air ship providedwith a sail, the forward portion of thesail constructed to dlp, the after portion of the sail constructed to rise and curved static propellers'passing through the sail and open to the atmosphere above and below the sail.

5. An. air ship provided with a sail, the forward portion of the sail constructedto dip, the after port-ion of the sail constructed to rise and static propellers passing through the sail and having their upper and lower edges dlrected rearwardly, the said static propellers being open to the atmosphere above and below the sail.

6. An air ship provided with a sail, the forwardportion of the sail constructed to dip, the after portion of the sail constructed to rise, and-static propellers passing through the sail with their upper and lower edges d directed rearwardly, the vrearwardly di-` rected upper edges of the said static propellers forming part of the upper vsurface of the sail and the rearwardly directed lower edges of the static propellers forming part ofthe lower surface of the sail.

7. An air ship provided with a sail, the upper surface of which is convex forward and free to assume a concave shape rearwardl and static propellers located on said upper surface after the point of greatest convexity and forward of the part which is free to assume a concave shape.

8. An air ship provided with a sail, the entering edge 'of the sail directed forward and downward and the trailing edge of the sail `constructed to point backward and upward and static propellers located on the surface of the sail aft the said entering edge and forward of the trailing edge.

9. An air ship provided with a sail, the upper surface of which, beginning at the entering edge iirst curves upward and backward, then trends downward and backward to a trailing edge constructed to curve backi A ward and upward, Vand static propellers, the upper edges of which form part of the sa j downward and backward upper surface of n the sail and whose lower edges form part of the lower surface of the sail.l 4

10. An air ship provided with a sail, thc upper surface of which, beginning at the entering edge, first curves upward and backward, then trends downward and backward, and is then constructed to curve backward and upward, and the lower surface of which beginning at the trailinped'ge is constructed to curve downward an` forward and then trend upward and forward, and static propellersfthe upperedges of which form part of the downward and lbackward trending u per surface of the sail and the lower edges ogwhieh form art of the upward and forward trending ower surface of the sail.

11. An airship provided. with a sail, the body of which is constructed to assume reverse curves from front to rear, a series of static propeiiersl on the u per side of the' sail, a series of static prope iers on the lower side of thefsaii and a series of static-pro` pellers passing through the sail.

'12, An air ship provided with.l a'sail, the

. body of which is constructed to assume reverse curves from front to rear, a series ot static mpelier's consisting of: rearwardly directe curved surfaces located on the upper side of the sailand a series of static propaliers consisting of rearwardly directed 36; si e in thevforino curved surfaces passing through the sail and opeln to the atmosphere above and below the sai. -13. Anair ship provided with a sail, hav ing the up er portion of its forward edge curved an the ligger portion fiat .anda series of static pro der sideof the sai above and in proximity to' the rearward termination of' said flat-'- lower ortion of the forward edge.

14.' n air ship rovided with a sail havin its forward e a parabolic curve and o flat on the 4lower side a series of stat-ic pro` pellers consisting` o rearwardly directed curved surfaces located on the upper side of the sail, afser/iesiof staticlpiopel ers, consist- -r ing of rearwardly directed curved' surfaces located on the underside of the sail and a llers located on the uno ge curved on the upper l series of static tpropeliers consisting .of rearwardly directe curved surfaces extending through the sail and o en to the surrounding medium aboveand vlow the sail.

15. An air ship rovided with a sail havwardiy directe curved surfaces on its upper and lower sidesand a trailingrear edge free to Aiex under the pressure o the current in contact with the sail.

16. An air shi y rovided with suitable -to iex, a guy leadin from said' outer front edge inwardlyz'a pu ley on the end of. said i guy, guys leading inwardly from the middle portion of the sail and a connection between said last named guys and 4said pulley giving ,an advantage o purchase in favor of the said guys leading to the middle portion of the sail, whereby abnormal ressure o n the middle ofthe sail will cause t e deflection of *the outer edge.

'as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two witnesses, this twentieth day of May, 1911.

JAMES E. SHERIFF. W itnesses:

F. J. FAvoNn,

JOSEPH W. BISHOP.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoimg ing stat-ic pro el ers consisting of rearsililpporting sails,t e ody of the shi gradua outer front edges of which are constructed 

